One - I try my best to pre-empt accidents , but like two - I am only human , and make mistakes . Anyone ,short of a Grade one Police driver who (IMHO) ANSWERS only to one is failing to acknowledge that without a higher level of training ,we are all prone to make errors ,but should strive to drive such as to minimize the results of these .It's like walking down the street - there's a ladder - I for one won't walk under it -am i superstitious - NO -I've dropped stuff too many times from up there to consider that it's safe to walk under one.

_________________lets bring sanity back to speed limits.Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

I"I always do my best to ensure that neither through action or inaction will I cause injury to other road users. However, I am not perfect, and occasionally make a mistake."

That would be closest to my answer. However, though I'm not perfect, I've never broken the first rule.As for the second rule? In my youth, there were a few times when I was the victim of the breaking of the second rule. I immediately labeled myself 'proximately responsible'.

IIPedestrians should not step into the road ... as if the rules do not apply to them.Whichever 'rules' you like - especially physics. (I think mine are pretty simple; they've worked for me in Mexico, Canada, France, Germany, and even in Amerika). Putting yourself in danger is no less a violation of the rules than putting others in danger; it's almost the same thing.

My 'rules', however, do not automatically excuse those who are not legally at fault, from some proximate responsibility ...

IIIThe times when I was a passive participant in the breaking of the second rule still cause me consternation. My urge not to allow them to be repeated demanded that I study them and other 'accidents', so that I could learn how to mitigate, counter, and/or occasionally even discourage or prevent, others' mistakes.

IVI freely admit that I believe that most other road users are in the way. Of that group, most are only passively so; luckily they outnumber those who actively try slow down other road users.The only ones that are not 'in the way', are the ones who consciously and conscientiously avoid being in other people's way, such as:

a) pedestrians who know that cars can pass through a crosswalk 'perpendicularly' much faster than a pedestrian can cross ita1) drivers who either slow down way in advance to avoid such pedestrians, or - when perfectly safe [which is rarer], speed up for the same reason (ideally along with a lane change away from them, to keep the pedestrian safer)b) drivers who permit and encourage overtakes when safely possiblec) drivers who make [left] turns across oncoming traffic lanes while wasting as little spacetime as possible, so as to increase the likelihood of those behind them doing the same as soon as reasonably possible

VNo one - except the truly reckless - wants to drive at a speed greater than road and traffic conditions allow.Some tend to to travel at speeds that allow little to no margin for error on their or anyone else's part. Though they are not reckless, they are probably inadequately experienced/educated/trained/tested. Since driver's education/training/testing are all inadequate, it follows I may be playing the devil's advocate here; it may sound like I'm saying everyone should slow down a bit. (In fact I have.)The vast majority of posted speed 'limits' are significantly slower than that, however. When coupled with the fact that most roads are designed to support speeds well above the posted speed 'limits', and that automotive handling and braking have improved significantly over the past two decades, it surprises me how many people refuse to see what's being done to them.

_________________The Rules for ALL ROAD USERS:1) No one gets hurt2) Nothing gets hit, except to protect others; see Rule#13) The Laws of Physics are invincible and immutable - so-called 'laws' of men are not4) You are always immediately and ultimately responsible for your safety first, then proximately responsible for everyone'sDo not let other road users' mistakes become yours, nor yours become others5) The rest, including laws of the land, is thoughtful observation, prescience, etiquette, decorum, and cooperation

When coupled with the fact that most roads are designed to support speeds well above the posted speed 'limits',

That might be so in your part of the world but in rural Britain there are thousands of miles of roads with a 60mph limit upon which it would be suicidal or homicidal to exceed half that speed. Especially in a car of the size that you drive

_________________When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

When coupled with the fact that most roads are designed to support speeds well above the posted speed 'limits',

That might be so in your part of the world but in rural Britain there are thousands of miles of roads with a 60mph limit upon which it would be suicidal or homicidal to exceed half that speed. Especially in a car of the size that you drive.

My impression is that, on these rural British roads of which you speak, my car might not even physically fit.(How many of you have actually seen an early-to-mid-nineties Caprice 'in the flesh', be it a sedan or a wagon?)

True that in my part of the world, there are almost no rural roads. The few times I have experienced rural roads, I remember being unwilling and unable to exceed 30MpH, not just because of the roads' characteristics, but because I was quite out of sorts being in an area so alien to me. My memories of such places leads me to guess that I would not attempt to exceed 30 MpH on such 'roads' (many unpaved) even if they became familiar to me. Putting a tire wrong would be too likely and too difficult to recover from.

_________________The Rules for ALL ROAD USERS:1) No one gets hurt2) Nothing gets hit, except to protect others; see Rule#13) The Laws of Physics are invincible and immutable - so-called 'laws' of men are not4) You are always immediately and ultimately responsible for your safety first, then proximately responsible for everyone'sDo not let other road users' mistakes become yours, nor yours become others5) The rest, including laws of the land, is thoughtful observation, prescience, etiquette, decorum, and cooperation

My experience of driving in back country New Mexico is that the rural roads are 'worse' than those in Derbyshire. Some of them don't even have a tarmac surface, just gravel. But they don't seem to have a reduced speed limit.

_________________When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

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